Some numbers for new O/O

Or your friend got the lemon truck.

 

Should've gotten one with a D13 motor.

I personally would not buy a DEF truck with a Cummins in it.

Sorry to hear he's having issues.

 

With a used truck you have to keep paying the truck note and you will have to pay for the work they do. It takes time to find a trusted independent shop. Im not turning wrenches on anything im not a mechanic. Im a driver. God forbid I buy a used truck and a month later it needs a new engine costing me ~30k.
I'm not talking about renting. I'm talking about a full service lease. I would only pay for gas. If I break down they will give me a rental until it's fixed. ~4k a month is the highest I have seen for a 3yr full service lease.

It seems like a no brainier to me especially if you are planning on expanding and not driving in the future. Nobody is going to take care of your truck like you will. Some people hate leasing. I lease my personal vehicle no maintenance costs, wont leave me stranded if it does it gets fixed for free and I get a free rental, I get a new one every 3 years, and if I pick the right car I can sell it for more than the residual. When my 14 year old jeep left me stranded with no way to get to work I cant let that happen again. Leasing makes sense to me especially with a semi truck. The likely hood of it breaking down while I'm at home is slim to none. It's best to have a brand new truck that I can almost guarantee will get me there.

Do you keep records? How much have you spent on maintenance since you've been trucking, how many years? How much did your truck cost?

 

I think we're saying the same thing pretty much

 

Bingo.

And whether you wrench .. or someone else.. it's still sitting COSTING money, not MAKING money.

I can touch in that one a bit.. my last used truck cost me about $50K in 11months.. Just in maintenance... Sold it and in the first 6 months the poor new owner put another $15k into it. I dumped it cheap though. Good riddens lol.
Between payments and maintenance, i literally could've owned two brand new trucks with warranty... And made a ton more money with a second driver.

That was my last venture into the used truck lottery! Buying cheap isn't really cheap but some guys occasionally hit that jackpot ..if you're willing to lose a fortune and stress in the hopes you get a winner.

 

What was your last brand new truck and what was it ?

"Trusted independent" shops are ok sometimes.. and if you aren't straying too far from home. That rarely works over the road. Unless that breakdown happens at the perfect place that you knew a shop. How often does that happen? Lol

My former lease guy knows the "trusted independent" local guy *very well* this year... So far he could've been driving a brand new truck ...all year paid .. with what he's spent at the local shop already.

I warned about used truck, it really sucks to see the hurt he's went through in the process.

Now, He's building a used truck to replace it, from the ground up.. and i think.. Hope.. He'll have better luck this next time. It'll be pretty anyway for sure!

Dune, tell them to check the tank heater if it's staying on...
He should've gotten the D13 TC motor!!

 

Forgive me if I got this wrong, but you sound like someone who is considering truck ownership and self employment with said truck. First problem is you're already dictating what you won't do. IMO that tells me you're not hungry enough to be in business for yourself. You don't have to do all repairs and service yourself. It helps tremendously if you can do a few things and at least know what's involved so you won't get taken advantage of, even on a brand new truck. In other words, at least have the option to do it yourself even if you never do. When you can do something yourself, you will save on parts/labor of course, but more importantly downtime. There's been countless times I've taken care of some little thing at a truckstop or even on the side of the road, that would have cost me a day dealing with a shop and 4X the cost. Not what I prefer to do, but sometimes I got to suck it up and get dirty instead of opening the check book and quit working until it's ready.

That's a big ask. I've been in business 7 yrs, operate two rigs, and bought and sold my way through 5 trucks and trailers for various reasons. It's not as simple as just running a total. That number would have no merit for the discussion. It's been an expensive learning process that everyone will go through, whether you think your smart or not.

To sum it up, I'd say the school of hard knocks cost me around $50-60k in the first two years. I simply did not know how much I did not know. The first two trucks were educated bad guesses that cost a good deal. Much of that cost was inflated due to bad service dealers, both factory and not. To be honest, nothing would have made that better for me, short of apprenticing with an old timer who already learned those lessons and made sure I learned them too. But I didn't do that.

Where I'm at now is two trucks nearly identical specs. The one I drive ('07 T600) cost around $40k 6 yrs ago and was paid off in 3 yrs. I'd say once a year it goes down for something more than a light bulb, might cost as much as $2,000 give or take. It had 620k on the clock when I bought it, now coming up on 1,1mil. The other one my son drives ('07 387) I bought last year at auction for $5,700 with 1.2mil on it. I've put about $25k into it to get it back in shape (no payments), after it's previous owner took a couple years of going broke in it and neglecting it to the point I was barely able to drive it from the auction to the shop 70 miles. Since then pretty much PM's and fuel. All that said, I got a couple of $20k Cat overhauls on the near horizon. Which, at the rate we go, will probably last longer than I'll keep working to worry about it. And really, before you flip out about gold plated yellow overhauls, consider that's like buying 10-15 more years of the same truck for $20k. You can't beat that with a stick.

Trailers, I haul reefers. At the moment two '17 models bought a year and two years ago (beginning and end of the model year). For those I really was able to make the cost benefit of new work in my favor. Enough I was willing to try one. That worked out great so I bought the second one. The last year I was running the older trailers (a '02 and an '06), I had a run of less than minor repairs. I'm on point with PM's, so maybe it was just that time? Who knows. What I did know is that in my business that's playing Russian roulette with a cargo claim, not to mention driver fatigue dealing with it and potential service failure (customer). After 5 or 6 close calls, I got fed up enough to pursue funding a new one. Expectation being zero maintenance and est 25% less fuel. Reality is the first one ended up making 8-9 warranty visits for the same thing before Thermo King got it right. That wasn't good. Maybe I got a lemon. However, with that behind me, the reality has been better than expected fuel savings on the order of $500/mo each which does knock a corner off the payments. And the trailers have been trouble free otherwise. The 2nd new trailer has been zero trouble. And those two will be up for sale in 2021 and 2022 when their replacement gets delivered. or maybe sooner if I get tired of doing this crap.

The crazy thing is none of that matters for you. Just because it works for me now, doesn't mean it will work for you. There's a thousand details in your case that will not line up with what I'm doing. Unfortunately nobody is born knowing everything, so at some point you'll have to set the spread sheets and internet discussions aside, and put your money where your mouth is and go do it.

 

None. A few people I know personally that have bought new have had some epic repair stories to share, along with one that was nearly bankrupted by his. Every time I get the urge to look at a new truck, those come to mind. It has also helped that having rented some late model trucks that also consistently broke down, I feel the value just isn't there for me.

Not knocking what you're sharing. Just saying I haven't seen enough wild success stories of one truck operators really seeing a substantial edge by taking on that kind of purchase.

I did buy a pair of new $72k trailers, so the concept of purchasing new equipment isn't totally lost on me.

You do as much due diligence as possible when the time comes. Sometimes that isn't possible and it's a roll of the dice. Part of that school of hard knocks. Eventually you figure out who the good and the bad are on your usual lanes. More importantly, you learn to spot a good value dealer among the ones that will rip you off. You learn what to look for, and what to listen for when you make that first call. It's not 100% guarantee, but a little experience goes a long way in choosing a service dealer.

 

If you are not willing to turn a wrench, best to stay a company driver. You will fail right out of the gate.

 

I don't "turn a wrench" and I didn't "fail right out of the gate". Gotta be careful broadbrushing, driver.